麻豆社

Emma Thompson, Tamsin Greig, Kate Atkinson, Adjoa Andoh, Anna Maxwell-Martin and a host of well-known Jane Austen fans feature in the Jane Austen collection, available on 麻豆社 Sounds from 6th December, bringing together highlights of the 麻豆社鈥檚 Austen programming 鈥� including all six of Austen鈥檚 major novels.

This December, 麻豆社 Radio 4 and 4Extra will mark the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen鈥檚 birth with a season of programming celebrating the life, legacy, and literary brilliance of one of Britain鈥檚 most beloved authors 鈥� including a special day of programming on Radio 4 on the 16th December, celebrating Austen鈥檚 birthday.

A complete collection of Austen鈥檚 six major novels, adapted for audio drama - Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Mansfield Park, Persuasion, and Northanger Abbey 鈥� will be broadcast across Radio 4 and 4Extra, and brought together as part of a dedicated Jane Austen collection on 麻豆社 Sounds, launched on 6th December. The collection also features Austen鈥檚 juvenilia and a rich array of factual programming exploring her enduring cultural impact.

Two newly commissioned dramas - Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility - bookend the season on Radio 4, with Tamsin Greig narrating as Jane Austen herself. These fresh adaptations, dramatised by Rachel Joyce and Claudine Toutoungi, offer a new take on Austen鈥檚 themes of love, heartbreak, and sisterhood.

Austen fans can also look forward to a ten-part factual series, When I Met Jane Austen, presented by Austen biographer Dr Paula Byrne, who is joined by a stellar line-up of guests including David Baddiel, Katherine Rundell, Val McDermid, Kate Atkinson, Andrew Davies, Amy Heckerling, Gurinder Chadha, Marlon James, Colm T贸ib铆n and Philippa Perry. Each episode explores how Austen鈥檚 work has shaped and inspired their lives and creative journeys.

There will also be a special edition of Bookclub, featuring Emma Thompson, who reflects on her adaptation of Sense and Sensibility and discusses why Austen鈥檚 writing continues to resonate with readers and audiences today.

Plus, there will be a chance to hear the Radio 4 continuity announcers like you鈥檝e never heard them before, as they join in the celebrations marking Jane Austen鈥檚 birthday on 16th December.

Radio 4Extra will pay tribute to Austen by rebroadcasting highlights of Radio 4 programming from the past forty years.

There is also a selection of Jane Austen-themed TV programmes available on 麻豆社 iPlayer, including adaptations of her novels and Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius, a 3-part documentary exploring the surprising life and lasting impact of the groundbreaking author with the help of experts, contemporary novelists, and actors who have portrayed Austen鈥檚 characters. Plus, Bafta and Olivier Award-winning actor Monica Dolan will give a captivating reading of Jane Austen鈥檚 much loved and last completed novel, Persuasion, in The Read, broadcast in December on 麻豆社 Four and iPlayer. All episodes of Miss Austen are available now on 麻豆社 iPlayer and a new ten-part drama The Other Bennet Sister based on the hit novel of the same name by Janice Hadlow has been announced.

Matthew Dodd, Commissioning Editor for Arts, 麻豆社 Radio 4, says: "Jane Austen鈥檚 work continues to delight audiences 250 years after she was born. We鈥檙e thrilled to bring together such a rich and varied collection across Radio 4 and 4Extra, and to showcase the many ways Austen鈥檚 voice still resonates today."

Alison Hindell, Commissioning Editor for Drama and Fiction, 麻豆社 Radio 4, says: "Jane Austen鈥檚 novels are timeless, and this anniversary gave us the perfect opportunity to revisit them with fresh eyes. It鈥檚 a joy to celebrate Austen鈥檚 enduring, global power as a storyteller."

Full programme information for Jane Austen season: 

Listen now on 麻豆社 Sounds

The 麻豆社 Sounds collection will include the following programmes which have already been broadcast across the anniversary year. 

• Drama on 4: Northanger Abbey, part one
  
  

  Dramatised by Clara Glynn. Austen's early novel is a coming-of-age narrative and a satire on the 1790s vogue for the sensationalist Gothic novel.

  Seventeen year old Catherine Morland is invited to Bath by a rich neighbour. Entering the fashionable society of the city, Catherine finds high drama and peril in every encounter and in every event - often with comic results. And then she receives an extraordinary, and thrilling, invitation.

  Catherine Morland ..... Madeleine Gray

  Henry Tilney ..... Will Howard

  Isabella Thorpe ..... Cecilia Appiah

  Mrs Allen ..... Ella Smith

  General Tilney ..... John Heffernan

  Eleanor Tilney ..... Scarlett Courtney

  Mrs Morland/Mrs Thorpe ..... Jasmine Hyde

  John Thorpe ..... Josh Bryant-Jones

  James Morland/Captain Tilney ..... Django Bevan

  
  

  Directed by Gaynor Macfarlane

  Sound by Keith Graham and Sam Dickinson

  Production Coordinator - Bethany Woodhead

• Opening Lines: Northanger Abbey, part one
  
  

  Northanger Abbey was Jane Austen鈥檚 first book, although it wasn鈥檛 published until after her death. It tells the story of Catherine Morland, an impressionable young woman who is introduced to fashionable society when she鈥檚 taken by a wealthy neighbour to Bath. There, Catherine鈥檚 imagination catches fire when she鈥檚 initiated into the thrills of Gothic fiction by new friend, Isabella Thorpe 鈥� a pretty, charming but devious gold digger.

  Another great reader of Gothic novels is 鈥榥ot quite handsome but very near it鈥� Henry Tilney, whom Catherine finds enchanting. When Henry invites Catherine to stay at Northanger Abbey, the home of his father, General Tilney, she imagines secret passages, haunted catacombs and an evil secret. Catherine does indeed find something wicked at the Abbey but not in the way she expects.

  In this first of two episodes John Yorke explores the dual nature of the book - part satire on Gothic fiction and part celebration of the novel form.

  Reader: Esme Scarborough

  Production Hub Coordinators: Nina Semple and Dawn Williams

  Researcher: Henry Tydeman

  Sound: Iain Hunter

  Producer: Kate McAll

  Executive Producer: Sara Davies

  A Pier production for 麻豆社 Radio 4

• Drama on 4: The Castle of Otranto
  
  

  A new adaptation of Horace Walpole鈥檚 gothic novel, widely recognised as being the godfather of modern horror.

  The adaptation by Katherine Tozer with specially composed music by John Chambers embraces the lurid nature of the original text, evoking a fever dream reality designed to conjure an experience that鈥檚 both eerie and disturbing.

  Set in Medieval Italy, Manfred is the despotic ruler of Otranto. Defying the curse that foretells his downfall he prepares to use whatever means necessary to hold onto power.

  Manfred 鈥�.. Sandy Grierson

  Hippolyta 鈥�.. Emily Bruni

  Mathilda 鈥�.. Kitty Archer

  Isabella 鈥�.. Cecilia Appiah

  Bianca 鈥�.. Bethany Muir

  Theodore 鈥�.. Jake Kenny-Bryne

  Father Jerome 鈥�.. Arthur Hughes

  Frederic 鈥�.. Justin Salinger

  
  

  Directed by Tracey Neale

  Produced by Gemma Jenkins

  Production Co-ordinator: Maggie Olgiati

  A 麻豆社 Studios production for 麻豆社 Radio 4.

• Opening Lines: The Castle of Otranto
  
  

  When Horace Walpole published The Castle of Otranto in 1764, novels as a form were still in their infancy. Many tended to be long-winded works, instructing readers on how to live a moral life.

  With this short and fast-paced rollercoaster of a book, Walpole blew that idea out of the water, introducing his audience to a completely new kind of fiction, featuring supernatural happenings, suspense, and a young woman fleeing an evil villain down a dark corridor with a candle that blows out at the vital moment - all the elements of what we now call Gothic fiction.

  Prompting both a moral panic and a rush on sales, The Castle of Otranto would prove inspirational to many future writers, including Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, and Jane Austen, who would both parody and celebrate the Gothic in her novel Northanger Abbey.

  Presented by John Yorke.

  Contributor: Emma Clery, Professor of English Literature at the Uppsala University, Sweden. Editor of The Castle of Otranto (1996), and author of The Rise of Supernatural Fiction, 1762 -1800

  Reader: Paul Dodgson

  Production Hub Coordinator: Nina Semple

  Researcher: Henry Tydeman

  Sound: Iain Hunter

  Producer: Kate McAll

  Executive Producer: Sara Davies

  A Pier production for 麻豆社 Radio 4

• You鈥檙e Dead to Me: Jane Austen
  
  Greg Jenner is joined in Regency England by historian Dr Lucy Worsley and actor Sally Phillips to learn all about the life and works of literary legend Jane Austen.
  
  This episode explores her early life as the daughter of a rural clergyman, takes a peek inside the books a teenage Jane was reading, and delves into her romantic and familial relationships to see what shaped Austen into the formidable literary talent she was. It also asks a key question: was Jane Austen, who wrote such wonderful women characters, a feminist?
  
  

Coming soon: Persuasion drops 6 December as part of the Jane Austen collection on 麻豆社 Sounds

Jane Austen鈥檚 last-completed novel is a moving, witty story of missed opportunities and second chances, recorded in full as a brand-new audiobook, read by Jasmine Hyde.

Anne Elliot last saw Frederick Wentworth eight years ago, when she broke off their engagement. All because her family had persuaded her that he wasn鈥檛 good enough for her.

Now he鈥檚 a celebrated naval captain: rich, successful, a catch. Anne 鈥� twenty-seven, not married, with her family now in debt 鈥� suddenly finds their paths crossing again.

Has too much time passed, or can their feelings be rekindled?

Producer 鈥� Fay Lomas

Sound engineer 鈥� Rhys Morris

Made by 麻豆社 Audio, Wales for 麻豆社 Radio 4.

Programming on 麻豆社 Radio 4 

Listen to Jane Austen on 麻豆社 Sounds

• Opening Lines: Northanger Abbey, part two
  Sunday 9 November, 2.45pm 鈥� 3pm
  
  Jane Austen鈥檚 novel, Northanger Abbey, was the first full book she wrote. She was in her early twenties at the time and it was accepted by a publisher but the novel wasn鈥檛 published in her lifetime. In this second episode, John Yorke looks at the story behind the genesis of Northanger Abbey - how a young woman with only three years of formal education came to write such an accomplished work, what prompted her to write a satire of Gothic fiction, and why the book is also a hymn of praise to the novel form itself.

  Jane may not have spent much time in school but her voracious love of reading, her prodigious memory and understanding of other writers鈥� techniques meant that she was entertaining the family with her own stories and plays from an early age. After leaving school at 11, her real education began - self-education. With the encouragement of her father, the availability of subscription libraries which made reading possible for all purses, and a lot of writing practice, she would develop into one of Britain鈥檚 finest writers.

  Sadly, her story is also one of disappointment and neglect. Despite the publisher鈥檚 promise, Jane鈥檚 novel, finished when she was 24, would have to languish for nearly 20 years before it finally saw the light of day, six months after her death.

• Drama on 4: Northanger Abbey, part two
  Sunday 9 November, 3pm 鈥� 4pm
  
  Dramatised by Clara Glynn. Having spent some weeks in Bath, Catherine has received an invitation from the Tilneys to stay at their home, Northanger Abbey. In the halls and corridors of this ancient building and fuelled by her love of the Gothic novel, Catherine's imagination runs riot.
  
  Catherine Morland ..... Madeleine Gray
  Henry Tilney ..... Will Howard
  Eleanor Tilney ..... Scarlett Courtney General Tilney ..... John Heffernan
  Isabella Thorpe ..... Cecilia Appiah Mrs Morland ..... Jasmine Hyde
  James Morland/Captain Tilney ..... Django Bevan

  Directed by Gaynor Macfarlane

  Sound by Keith Graham and Sam Dickinson

  Production Coordinator - Bethany Woodhead

• Opening Lines: Pride and Prejudice, part one
  Saturday 13 December 3pm - 4.15pm
  
  Jane Austen鈥檚 鈥楶ride and Prejudice鈥� has not only captured the hearts of generations of readers, it also helped change the way that novels are written. This most beloved tale of Regency romance, featuring the brilliantly quick-witted Elizabeth Bennett and the haughty figure of Fitzwilliam Darcy, allows us into its characters鈥� heads and hearts in newly sophisticated ways that set the template for so much of the fiction that followed. In this, the first of two parts focusing on Austen鈥檚 most popular novel, John Yorke examines how a book she described as 鈥榯oo light, and bright, and sparkling鈥� retains a special place and a special importance in the history of English literature.
  
  The programme features leading Austen expert John Mullen, professor of English Literature at UCL, and Dr. Lucy Powell, lecturer in English at the University of Oxford.
  
  Presented by John Yorke.
  Contributor: John Mullen, professor of English Literature at UCL
  Sound: Sean Kerwin
  Researcher: Henry Tydeman
  Production Hub Coordinator: Dawn Williams
  Producer: Geoff Bird
  Reader: Rhiannon Neads
  Executive Producer: Caroline Raphael

  A Pier production for 麻豆社 Radio

• Drama on 4: Pride and Prejudice, episode one
  Saturday 13 December 3.15pm - 4.15pm
  

  Radio 4 celebrates 250 years of Jane Austen with fresh, funny, and female-focused adaptations of Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. Expect heartbreak, love, hilarity, and the enduring power of sisterhood.

  Both dramas are narrated by Tamsin Grieg as Austen herself. Pride and Prejudice is the iconic love story between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy, and a delightful portrayal of a family. It perfectly conjures up the period, and the pressure on women to find husbands. It鈥檚 a tapestry of unforgettable characters and wonderfully funny.

  Pride and Prejudice stars Tamsin Grieg (Friday Night Dinner, Green Wing and Episodes) as narrator Jane Austen; Isabella Laughland (The Road Trip) as Elizabeth Bennet; Luke Thompson (Bridgerton and A Little Life); Miles Jupp (Rev, The Durrells) as Mr Bennet; Rosie Cavaliero as Mrs Bennet (Power of Parker); Lucy Doyle as Jane (The Mousetrap) Louis Landau as Mr Bingley (Butterfly, Rivals); Toby Regbo as Mr Wickham (Outrageous); Adjoa Andoh as Lady Catherine (Bridgerton); Kitty O鈥橲ullivan as Lydia (Our Man in Havana); and Gaia Wise as Kitty (Dead of Winter.)

  And with:

  Imogen Front as Mary and Georgiana,

  鈥↗osh Bryant Jones as Mr Collins,鈥�

  Sasha McCabe as Charlotte Lucas,鈥�

  Catherine Bailey as Caroline Bingley,鈥�

  Jasmine Hyde as Mrs Gardiner,鈥�

  Clive Hayward as Mr Gardiner,鈥�

  And Sarah Thom as Mrs Reynolds.

  Dramatised by Rachel JoyceDirected by Tracey Neale

  Sound by Andrew Garratt and Sam Dickinson

  Production Co-Ordinator, Luke MacGregor

  A 麻豆社 Studios Production.

• Opening Lines: Pride and Prejudice, part two
  Sunday 14 December 2.45pm - 3pm
  
  The opening lines of 鈥楶ride and Prejudice鈥� are not only among the most famous in all of literature, they also place marriage front and centre as the key theme within the novel. 鈥淚t is a truth universally acknowledged,鈥� Austen writes, 鈥渢hat any man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.鈥� So many of the characters and their actions are driven by the search for a good marriage - but their motivations and aspirations are both richly varied and illuminating of Regency society at a time when women could find security and status primarily at the altar. John Yorke asks whether Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy, two of the most illustrious and quick-witted partners in literary history, can find a love that transcends the strictures of the time.
  
  The programme features Dr Lucy Powell, lecturer in English at the University of Oxford, and Professor John Mullan from University College London.
  
  
• Drama on 4: Pride and Prejudice, part two
  Sunday 14 December 3pm - 4pm
  
  Rachel Joyce鈥檚 fresh, funny and heartfelt adaptation of Pride and Prejudice continues 鈥� a celebration of love, wit and the enduring power of sisterhood.
  
  
• When I Met Jane Austen
  Monday 15 鈥� Friday 19 December 11.45am - 12pm, 1.45pm 鈥� 2pm
  Available as a boxset on 麻豆社 Sounds from 6 December
  
  Austen biographer and writer Dr Paula Byrne is joined by prominent thinkers, writers, directors who tell her about their encounters with the famous author. Each of her guests has been shaped, changed, and inspired by Jane Austen. Paula has been thinking and writing about Austen for the best part of thirty years and her guests' experiences will inspire her own reflections, drawn from the places that held special meaning for Austen.
  
  Presenter: Dr Paula Byrne
  Reader: Gemma Whelan
  Producer: Camellia Sinclair
  
  
• Woman鈥檚 Hour
  Tuesday 16 December 10am 鈥� 11am
  
  To mark Jane Austen鈥檚 birthday, Woman鈥檚 Hour will be looking at why Austen鈥檚 wise and witty writing remains so relatable for women today. Nuala McGovern hears why the topics Austen addresses, and her sharp observations on women鈥檚 lives and society, still resonate.
  
  
• Screenshot: Jane Austen on Film
  Tuesday 16 December 11am - 11.45am
  
  Presented by Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode. Screenshot delves into some of the many films and TV programmes that have been adapted from or inspired by Jane Austen鈥檚 novels and stories, including the iconic 麻豆社 TV adaptations of Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion in the 90s through to Bridget Jones and Clueless.
  
  Interviewees include:

  鈥� Celine Song - acclaimed director of Past Lives (2023) Song has acknowledged Jane Austen to be a favourite author and her latest film the rom com 鈥楳aterialists' from earlier this year is heavily influenced by Austen鈥檚 style and characterisation.

  鈥� Lillian Crawford - the critic and film journalist will review the history of Austen in films and TV - there have been many hundreds of adaptations - Crawford will pick out the best and some of the weirdest like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies from 2016.

  鈥� Amy Heckerling - director of Clueless - one of the funniest and most successful Austen inspired movies from 1995. The takes the plot of Emma and transposes it to an American High school with hilarious results.

  Producer: Jane Long

  A Prospect Street Production for 麻豆社 Radio 4.

• When I Met Jane Austen
  Tuesday 16 December 11.45am - 12pm
  Episode 3: Val McDermid.
  
  
• When I Met Jane Austen
  Tuesday 16 December 1.45pm - 2pm
  Episode 4: Kate Atkinson
  
  
• Drama on 4: Jane and Tom: The Real Pride and Prejudice
  Tuesday 16 December 2.15pm 鈥� 3pm
  
  Elizabeth Lewis's drama from 2009, based on letters from Jane Austen to her sister Cassandra, tells of the author's love for Tom Lefroy. Stars Andrew Scott, Jasmine Hyde and Penny Downie.
  
  
• Bookclub
  Tuesday 16 December 4pm 鈥� 4.30pm
  
  In this special edition of Bookclub, presenter James Naughtie is joined by the actor and screenwriter Emma Thompson who answers readers鈥� questions about Austen鈥檚 first novel, Sense and Sensibility. Thompson adapted the book for the screen in 1995, and had a starring role as Elinor Dashwood, the character with the most sense, when compared to her sister Marianne, played by Kate Winslet. The film won Emma Thompson an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, making her the only person in history to win Academy Awards for both acting and writing. During this recording in Broadcasting House, London, the actress talks about the narrative choices she had to make while turning the book into a film, what she loves about the story, Austen鈥檚 acute observations, and why the novel is still relevant today. When Sense and Sensibility was first published back in 1811 it was done so anonymously. On its title page it simply stated that it was a story written 鈥楤y A Lady鈥�.
  
  
• Front Row
  Tuesday 16 December 7.15pm 鈥� 10pm
  
  Front Row explores Austen鈥檚 brilliance as a writer 鈥� her sharp wit, elegant prose, gripping storylines and the power of her social commentary. Samira Ahmed is joined by a panel of acclaimed authors and leading Austen scholars to discuss her literary craft, her influence on subsequent writers in the 19th Century, and why her work still resonates with readers today.
  
  
• Opening Lines: Sense and Sensibility, episode one
  Saturday 20 December 3pm 鈥� 3.15pm
  
  No 鈥榩icnics and tea parties鈥� here, just the 鈥榗hink of cash in every paragraph鈥�. Sense and Sensibility is sharply funny and shot through with darkness, exposing social cruelty within the confines of rigid 18th society.

  John Yorke considers Jane Austen's obsession with money in the novel, the genius of its dialogue, and Austen鈥檚 most brilliant innovation: a way of perceiving the character鈥檚 internal world through the narrative voice. He鈥檒l discover why Jane Austen鈥檚 work is so reinvent-able for every age, culture and platform, and particularly for now.

  Including guests Professor John Mullan, writer Claudine Toutoungi, and reader Rhiannon Neads.
  Producer: Mary Ward-Lowery.
  
  
• Drama on 4: Sense and Sensibility, episode one
  Saturday 20 December 3.15pm 鈥� 4.15pm
  
  Sense and Sensibility is a tale of two sisters with wildly different hearts: one ruled by reason, the other by passion. But when love, loss, and scandal strike, Elinor and Marianne will learn that heartbreak is best faced together.

  Sense and Sensibility stars Tamsin Greig (Friday Night Dinner, Green Wing) as narrator Jane Austen; Madeleine Mantock as Elinor (Charmed, The Long Song); Rose Basista (Trigger Point) as Marianne, Ben Hardy (Bohemian Rhapsody) as John Willoughby; Enyi Okoronkwo (Renegade Nell) as Edward Ferrars; Richard Goulding (The Windsors, Wicked Little Letters) as Colonel Brandon; Jasmine Hyde as Mrs Dashwood, Ava Talbot as Margaret Dashwood; Carolyn Pickles as Mrs Jennings; Clive Hayward as Sir John; Bethan Rose Young as Lucy Steele; Django Bevan as John Dashwood; Sasha McCabe as Fanny Dashwood.

  Dramatised by Claudine Toutoungi

  Directed by Anne Isger

  Sound by Andy Garratt, Neva Missirian and Sam Dickinson

  Production co-ordination by Kate Gray

  A 麻豆社 Studios Production

• Opening Lines: Sense and Sensibility, part two
  Sunday 21 December 2.45pm - 3pm
  
  John Yorke continues his exploration of Austen's obsession with money in the novel, the genius of its dialogue, and Austen鈥檚 most brilliant innovation: a way of perceiving the character鈥檚 internal world through the narrative voice. He鈥檒l discover why Jane Austen鈥檚 work is so reinvent-able for every age, culture and platform, and particularly for now.
  
  
• Drama on 4: Sense and Sensibility, part two
  Sunday 21 December 3pm - 4pm
  
  Marianne and Elinor are taking a trip to London. Marianne is desperate to see Willoughby after his abrupt departure from Barton. Elinor has discovered the devastating news of Edward鈥檚 engagement to Lucy Steele but is determined to keep the secret.
  
  
• Bookclub (repeat)
  Sunday 21 December 4pm - 4.30pm

Programming on 麻豆社 Radio 4Extra

• Letters to Alice (OMNIBUS)
  Saturday 6 December 12.30pm 鈥� 1.40pm
  
  New to 4 Extra. Fay Weldon reads her own letters to a young student relative, making a strong and witty case for the enduring value of the classics of English literature.
  
  Omnibus of five parts abridged by Shelley Bovey

  Producer: Alec Reid

  First broadcast on 麻豆社 Radio 4 in 1991.

• Lady Susan (1-10/10)
  Monday 8 December 鈥� Friday 19 December 8.30am - 8.45am
  
  New to 4 Extra. In Jane Austen鈥檚 little known, very early work (not published until 1871), Harriet Walter stars as Lady Susan, Maggie Steed as Mrs Johnson and Imelda Staunton as Mrs Vernon.

  Lady Susan Vernon is a beautiful society widow but both manipulative and scheming. She is seeking a husband for herself and her shy and awkward daughter, while engaged in an affair with a married man.

  Who will win the heart of the rich and handsome Reginald De Courcy? And will the truth about Lady Susan ever come out? These are the questions a teenaged Jane Austen posed in this early epistolary novella, published long after her death - the first of her many wise and witty studies of love and marriage, and the games people play.

  In episode one, when Lady Susan decides to visit her brother-in-law, will she be a welcome guest? Her dear friend Alicia Johnson narrates her story.

  With Jill Balcon and Geoffrey Whitehead.

  Adapted by Lavinia Murray

  Music by Julie Cooper

  Directed by Jocelyn Boxall

  Produced by Jeremy Mortimer

  First broadcast on 麻豆社 Radio 4 in 1999.

• Remembering Jane Austen (1-4/4)
  Monday 8 December 鈥� Thursday 11 December 10.30am 鈥� 10.50am 
  
  New to 4 Extra. "A gentleman visiting Winchester Cathedral desired to be shown Miss Austen's grave. The verger, as he pointed it out, asked, 'Pray, sir, can you tell me whether there was anything particular about that lady; so many people want to know where she is buried".

  James Edward Austen-Leigh was Jane Austen 's nephew. The youngest mourner at her funeral in 1817, he was later to publish a memoir of his aunt. Published in 1869, it is the only account we have written by someone who actually knew her.

  
  Derek Parker presents four programmes based on the book.
  

  With Paul Rogers as James Austen-Leigh and Joanna David as Jane Austen.

  Producer: John Knight

  First broadcast on 麻豆社 Radio 4 in 1999.

• Emma (1-2/2)
  Monday 8 December 鈥� Tuesday 9 December 3pm 鈥� 4pm
  
  Eve Best stars as Emma and Robert Bathurst as Mr Knightley in Jane Austen's sparkling comedy of love and marriage first published in 1815.

  Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever and rich, a young woman so blessed by life that she declares she will never marry. However, she is determined to find the right match for her new friend Harriet Smith.

  With Patience Tomlinson, Andrew Wincott and Tom Hollander.
  

  Dramatised in two parts by April de Angelis.

  Music by Martin Souter and Sarah Stowe

  Directed by Jonquil Panting

  First broadcast on 麻豆社 Radio 4 in November 2000.

• Persuasion (1-3/3)
  Wednesday 10 December 鈥� Friday 12 December 3pm 鈥� 4pm
  
  Juliet Stevenson stars as the quiet and perceptive Anne Elliot and Sorcha Cusack is Jane Austen in Jane Austen鈥檚 story of love, regret and social status.

  It's 1814 in the village of Uppercross in Somersetshire. Sir Walter Elliot of Kellynch Hall has long since given up any hope of his daughter making a favourable marriage.

  Eight years ago, young Anne rejected a proposal from Frederick Wentworth, a handsome but poor naval officer. Now her former love has returned. Anne was persuaded to give him up - and he's not forgiven her.

  First published in 1817, Jane Austen's novel is dramatised in three parts by Michelene Wandor.

  With Tim Brierley, Roger Hume and Claire Faulconbridge.

  Square piano (William Rolfe and Sons c 1810) played by Kenneth Mobbs

  Directed at 麻豆社 Pebble Mill by Vanessa Whitburn.

  First broadcast on 麻豆社 Radio 4 in December 1986

• No Ice in Weymouth: Episode 1: Pride, Prejudice and Shopping (1-5/5)
  Monday 8 December 鈥� Friday 12 December 8.45am 鈥� 9am
  
  New to 4 Extra. Starring Susannah Harker in a portrait of the family, social and professional world of Jane Austen, as seen through her letters and novels.

  Jane discusses the art of buying gloves and speculates on the quality of food markets in Sweden. Meanwhile, Pride and Prejudice is about to be published and she writes to her sister Cassandra with the news.

  With Oona Beeson, David Holt and Annabelle Dowler.

  Devised in five parts by Vanessa Rosenthal.

  Director Peter Leslie Wild

  First broadcast on 麻豆社 Radio 4 in 2000.

• Juvenile Jane
  Friday 12 December 10.30am 鈥� 11am
  
  Jane Austen's surprisingly neglected but delightfully precocious and revealing early works celebrated by Austen expert Janet Todd with the help of the writer and illustrator Posy Simmonds and the actor Anna Maxwell Martin.

  Considering how frequently Jane Austen's six great novels are adapted for film, radio and television, it is perhaps surprising that the three small exercise books containing twenty two little stories and plays written during her teen years have not received more notice. Some of these stories - with titles such as "The Adventures of Mr Harley", "The Generous Curate" and "The Beautiful Cassandra" - are only a few lines long but others run to many pages and provide both entertainment and surprising insights into the development of the mature writer.

  Austen expert Janet Todd leafs through two of the precious volumes which are held at the British Library in London and discusses their wonderfully uninhibited style and content with the writer and illustrator Posy Simmonds who has long been a fan of Austen and fascinated by juvenilia in general. It is well documented that, during her lifetime, the adult Jane Austen used to read from these books to her close family. For this programme, the actor Anna Maxwell Martin reads extensive extracts from three stories - "Frederick and Elfrida", "Henry and Eliza" and "love and Freindship" (sic) to reanimate them for a contemporary radio audience.

  Producer Beaty Rubens

  First broadcast on 麻豆社 Radio 4 in 2010.

• Mansfield Park (1/2)
  Saturday 13 December 11.00am 鈥� 12.15pm
  Episode 2 is broadcast on Sunday 20 December at 6am, 11am & 5pm
  
  A rare chance to re-listen. Felicity Jones stars as Fanny, with Benedict Cumberbatch as Edmund and David Tennant as Sir Thomas Bertram.
  
  In Jane Austen鈥檚 classic tale, first published in 1814, unlikely heroine Fanny Price is plucked from her impoverished family and brought up by her wealthy relatives at Mansfield Park.
  
  With Tim Pigott-Smith, Amanda Root and Julia McKenzie.
  Produced by Sally Avens
  First broadcast on 麻豆社 Radio 4 in 2003.
  
  
• Love and Freindship (sic) (1/1)
  Monday 15 December 3pm 鈥� 3.45pm
  
  New to 4 Extra. Victoria Hamilton stars as Laura and David Tennant as Edward in Jane Austen鈥檚 unconstrained comedy of youthful rebellion, love at first sight, door-slamming, theft, elopement and death, written when the novelist was only 14.

  Two young heroines substitute the quivering emotions of sensibility for common sense in this exuberant parody of the sentimental and romantic novels of the day. It's truly Jane Austen as you've never heard her before.

  With Janet Jefferies and David Horovitch

  Dramatised by Robin Brooks

  Produced by Fiona McAlpine

  First broadcast on 麻豆社 Radio 4 in 2002.

Programming on 麻豆社 Radio 3

• The Essay: Accompanying Austen
  Monday 15 鈥� Friday 19 December, 9.45am 鈥� 10am
  
  250 years since the birth of Jane Austen, film critic Antonia Quirke meets five modern composers who've scored original music for Austen adaptations or Austen-influenced films. The composers discuss the musical choices when underscoring key scenes and moments, as well as the music that Austen herself enjoyed. The series includes discussions with Rachel Portman (Emma), Adrian Johnston (Becoming Jane), Jeremy Sams (Persuasion), Ruth Barrett (Sanditon) and Fernando Vel谩zquez (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies).

FK

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